


Veritas

by AStrangeDaze (TerraRising)



Series: Anthologie: The Stories of Us [1]
Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-01 23:38:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11497194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerraRising/pseuds/AStrangeDaze
Summary: Daniel just really wants to get to his job interview, he didn't ask for any of this!Or: the Soulmate AU where it is impossible to lie to your soulmate.





	Veritas

“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” Daniel chants to himself while stumbling off the bus, pretending not to see the scandalized expression of the ahjumma seated near the entrance.

 

Normally he’d make sure to stay on his best behavior, but right now he can feel the cool liquid of the energy drink that burst in his bag dripping down his back and he _needs_ to make the connection to that bus across the street if he doesn’t want to be late for his interview. So instead, Daniel weaves his way through the crowd, his legs are strong and nimble from hours of dance practice and thankfully don’t betray him like the rest of the world seem to be doing right now.

 

Daniel pumps his legs, willing his body to move faster, disregarding the burning sensation in his muscles and wild honking of the car turning right that he just cut in front of. He can see the last passengers of the bus boarding and if he doesn’t make it there in the next ten seconds he’s completely and utterly screwed, can kiss that job goodbye and he’ll be damned if he lets public transport screw over his career.

 

But then he sees it out of the corner of his eye, a motorcycle weaving madly in and out of stopped traffic. Which is normal for the streets of Seoul except the motorcycle isn’t slowing down at all, doesn’t seem to realize it’s heading towards a fucking red light and there’s a girl, middle school, head down and fiddling with her phone. The screeching of tires to his right serenades Daniel as he leaps blindly, adrenaline pumping, bodily throwing himself forwards and tackling the unsuspecting teenager out of the way.

 

His fellow pedestrians scream and gasp in shock, or at least Daniel imagines they did. He’s too busy trying to get air back into his lungs with how hard the two of them hit the pavement, rolling a ways from the motorcycle that finally ground to a halt halfway into the crossing zone. The girl in his arms starts crying from the shock and a passing ahjumma walks over and starts smacking the driver with her handbag, screaming at him for almost killing someone.

 

There are hands reaching out to help the girl up, to help him up, and Daniel goes gratefully, brushing himself off and hissing through clenched teeth when he makes contact with the scrapes down his left shoulder and arm. They’re ushered to the other side of the crossing and Daniel sees a few women trying to console the girl who’s still heaving huge ugly sobs, unable to stop now that she’s realized how close she came to getting killed because she was on her phone.

 

“Hey,” a soft voice asks, “You okay? You need an ambulance?”

 

Daniel looks up to meet concerned eyes set underneath a furrowed brow that are darker than the night sky, and wow, how hard did he land to start spouting poetic about a stranger’s eyes?

 

He opens his mouth to say, “I’m fine,” only to find the words stubbornly stuck in his throat. “Okay” doesn’t come out, neither does “I’ll be alright”, and that’s when Daniel starts wondering if he really did hit his head too hard and now has a concussion.

 

His silence seems to be worrying the stranger as well and holy shit this dude’s face is really small and really attractive, and okay maybe Daniel does need an ambulance after all. He needs a doctor, and maybe for this stranger to hold his hand through it all and wow, him smoothing back Daniel’s hair feels really nice. Is he getting head pats? His cats always seem to enjoy it when he strokes them and now Daniel can understand why, but wait, no, the stranger is just checking for head injuries.

 

Daniel looks around and then lets out a distressed sound at the sight of his bus taking off, “My bus, oh my god, I’m so screwed.”

 

The stranger chuckles and the sound makes Daniel feel all tingly inside. “I think the last thing you need to worry about right now is your bus. How do you feel?” the stranger admonishes lightly, clucking as he gently probes the back of Daniel’s head for any injuries that he can’t see.

 

Daniel means to say ‘okay’ now that he’s confirmed he hasn’t lost his ability to speak but that single word gets stuck in his throat again and instead what comes out is, “Like shit. I’m going to miss my interview and I really needed that job and I’m pretty sure I have pieces of the street stuck in my shoulder.”

 

The stranger (and Daniel really need a name to put to that attractive face) hums sympathetically while he prompts Daniel to follow his finger with his eyes. Daniel does this without complaint, thinking that God wasn’t fair, how is it that even this person’s _hands_ are this perfect? After a couple more random tests that probably look bizarre to anyone passing by, the other man smiles at Daniel and takes a seat beside him.

 

“Okay, well the good news is you don’t have a concussion, although you are pretty banged up and will be feeling that for a few days. The bad news is, you’re probably not going to make that interview and, well, if you did,” he looks down at Daniel’s ruined clothes, “I don’t think you’d make a great first impression right now. Also you might have wet yourself in the excitement.”

 

Daniel glances down and groans, mortified, realizing now how it all looks, “I didn’t pee myself, oh my god, the energy drink in my bag burst, I swear! But dammit, my interview!”

 

The other man breaks out into laughter at Daniel’s explanation, looking contrite when Daniel shoots him a betrayed look, “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to make fun of you, I promise. Just, the situation, and the wet spot doesn’t help your case. When’s your interview?”

 

Daniel checks his phone, cursing under his breath when he realizes that the screen is cracked as well now. “In an hour. But it takes at least 45 minutes to get there and there’s no way I’ll make if I wait for the next bus,” he announces mournfully.

 

So now he’s out of a job, needs to repair his phone screen, and his best interview clothes also need to be replaced; Daniel sighed heavily, loss and no income, just great.

 

“Hey, don’t be too down about it, you did a great thing today,” the other man offers with an encouraging smile, “Sucks about your interview though, was it a big company?”

 

“Nu EST Incorporated, have you heard of them? Not the biggest, they’re an up and coming company, but the last couple of years? Trail-blazers! I finally landed an interview and now…”

 

The stranger’s eyes twinkle as if their depths are filled with hidden starlight and his lips quirk up in a half-smile, like he’s enjoying his own private joke. “I’ve heard of them, yeah,” he answers after a pause, “What department were you looking to join?”

 

“Media and Production,” Daniel confesses with a sigh, “They’re only looking to add two people to their team and I wanted it so badly. I still can’t believe they asked me to come in for an interview, I guess it’s just not meant to be.”

 

The stranger gets to his feet and offers his hand to Daniel, “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up at least. You sure you don’t want to go to a clinic, get checked out just to be safe?”

 

“Naw, I’d rather not bother,” Daniel takes the offered hand and gets to his feet; there’s still some weird force that doesn’t let him say he’s okay and something niggling in the back of his mind tells him this should be significant but he can’t recall why right now.

 

“Ong Seongwoo,” the stranger finally introduces himself.

 

“Kang Daniel,” he responds, eyes fixated on where their hands are clasped together, where Seongwoo has yet to let go.

 

Seongwoo just flashes a charming grin at him and scoops up Daniel’s bag with his free hand, tugging him along wordlessly. Daniel’s beat up backpack looks odd next to how Seongwoo is dressed. Tailored navy pants, a black cowl neck sweater, and a fashionable slate grey pea coat adorns his slim figure and Daniel shifts a little awkwardly, feeling out of place in the suit pants he bought for his graduation last year and the cheap dress shirt that’s now ripped to shreds.

 

Seongwoo leads him down the street to a black car that he unlocks with the touch of a hand. He opens the passenger door, revealing plush leather seats, and waves Daniel in with a player’s bow, “After you.”

 

There are a thousand reasons why Daniel shouldn’t get into the car of an absolute stranger, no matter how good looking he is. But right now all that Daniel can see is that cheeky smile, how oddly charming those three moles on Seongwoo’s face are, and how it feels like he’s known him for years and not fifteen odd minutes after narrowly avoiding being killed by a speeding motorcycle.

 

He gets in the car.

 

Seongwoo closes the door behind him gently and then walks around to slide into the driver’s seat with that same grin and dammit, even if he’s a serial killer and Daniel’s about to get killed for real, he doesn’t regret it.

 

“Oh shit,” he bolts up only to be jerked back down by the seatbelt, remembering his damp pants, “I’m ruining your upholstery!”

 

Seongwoo just laughs it off as he pulls out into traffic, “Don’t worry about it, I got leather seats for a reason. _Much_ easier to clean.”

 

Then he launches into an exaggerated story about that time his friend, Hyunbin, spilled two 1-litre bottles of milk tea all over the back when he borrowed the car and panicked, convinced Seongwoo was going to murder him and how that had been an absolute bitch to clean. Daniel finds himself laughing along, forgetting all about how awkward he felt moments ago, throwing in his own stories about friends who borrowed things only to return them in less than pristine condition. The spend the next couple minutes chatting about what seems to be everything and anything, Seongwoo's exaggerated retelling has Daniel howling with laughter, and Daniel's recount of his mischievous antics as a child has Seongwoo so amused he almost misses their stop.

 

When Seongwoo pulls over and parks along the street of a shopping district, Daniel blinks in confusion, “What?”

 

“Come on,” Seongwoo slips out of the car and opens the door for Daniel with a disarmingly charming smile, offering his hand again, “Trust me?”

 

Daniel wonders if this is how dazzled high school girls feel the first time they date a senior who has a car, wonders if he’s unwittingly become the female lead of a rom-com that’s getting courted by a chaebol heir. Still he takes Seongwoo's hand, lets himself get pulled out of the car and steered into a boutique that looks way too expensive for him to even _breathe_ in the general vicinity of.

 

A sales associate greets them with a smile a touch too flirty for business and with eyes only for Seongwoo, “Mr. Ong! What a surprise, are you here for business or to see Mr. Choi?”

 

Seongwoo greets her like an old friend, he’s a clearly a regular then, and asks the woman to help him find good replacements for his friend’s ruined clothes, a terrible accident, of course she understands that they can't walk around like this. She nods and turns with a much more restrained smile to Daniel, directing him to the fitting rooms while carefully averting her eyes from the unsightly stain on his trousers and Daniel is certain he’s stepped into the Twilight Zone, or maybe he’s still wiped out on the pavement after that crash and he’s dreaming it all.

 

He ends up in charcoal slacks that sit so well against his legs even with his thicker thighs that Daniel’s amazed. The dress shirt is a merino blend, off white, and the softest thing Daniel has worn that isn’t a t-shirt or hoodie worn out from too many washes. Daniel doesn’t want to know how expensive this outfit is, can’t even check really because _there are no price tags._

 

But Seongwoo just lights up at the sight of Daniel coming out of the change room, nodding appreciatively in a way that does _not_ make Daniel blush. “You look great!” he compliments and Daniel can’t help but stand a little taller.

 

He flushes when Seongwoo steps in much closer than propriety calls for and fiddles with his dress shirt, undoing the top button that had been almost choking Daniel when he buttoned it up with nervous fingers. "Looks better this way," Seongwoo tells Daniel in a low tone and it takes all of Daniel's willpower to suppress his shiver when Seongwoo's fingers graze his collarbone as he pulls away to look for the sales associate.

 

“We’ll take it,” he informs the her, “Just charge it on my account, thanks Jini!”

 

Then he’s sweeping them out of the store, a warm hand on Daniel’s lower back guiding him back to the car before Daniel even has a chance to protest the fact that Seongwoo just spent God knows how much money on a complete stranger. Daniel is shaking which Seongwoo seems to interpret as being cold because he takes off his pea coat and drapes it over Daniel’s shoulders with a minute frown, the gesture warming Daniel in ways beyond what the jacket provides and also confusing him further.

 

“Seongwoo-ssi,” he tries to object, the formal address feels awkward and out of place on his tongue even as he allows himself to be maneuvered into the passenger seat again, “I can’t accept this!”

 

Seongwoo just quirks an eyebrow at him as he smoothly shifts the car into drive and merges into traffic once more, “Why not? Think of it as a reward for a good deed. Besides, my friend owns that store so I get a huge discount, don’t think about it too much.”

 

“Don’t think about-“ Daniel breaks off in disbelief, scoffing, filter suddenly gone because the useless platitudes stubbornly refuse to spout from his throat anyways, “That place didn’t even have _price tags_!”

 

“A gimmick, a gimmick! Minki just doesn’t believe that consumers of good fashion should be swayed by price.”

 

“That does nothing to comfort me,” Daniel hisses, “If anything, now I’m even more worried. Oh my God, who **are** you?! Why are you doing this?”

 

“Oh, that reminds me!” Seongwoo hit a button on his display to make a call, ignoring how Daniel is having a minor melt-down beside him.

 

The dial tone fills the car until the other party picks up. “Hello?”

 

“Hey, Jonghyun-ah, you have an interview at 3:00 pm with a Kang Daniel, right? Can you push it to 3:30 pm?”

 

“Uh, sure, I can just switch around some of the other candidates in the scheduling, why?”

 

Seongwoo flashes a grin at Daniel that should be illegal, but Daniel is too busy gaping and trying to regain control over his motor functions to care. “Traffic accident, terrible business that. So you’ll move it?”

 

“Oh, yeah, sure. Is he okay? I didn’t know you knew any of the candidates.”

 

“He’s fine, mostly, just scrapes and bruises,” Seongwoo answers airily, winking at Daniel, “And I didn’t until a little while ago, let’s call it fate?”

 

The other person on the phone chuckles lowly, “Only you. Alright, I’ve changed it, let Mr. Kang know I’ll see him at 3:30 pm. Later Seongwoo.”

 

“Thanks Jonghyun! See ya.”

 

He ends the call casually and then looks over at a stupefied Daniel. Seongwoo smiles at him softly while Daniel tries to find all the words that he’s lost; Seongwoo knew Kim Jonghyun personally. _Kim Jonghyun_ , co-founder of Nu EST Inc., the company Daniel desperately wanted to get in to and apparently his interviewer, and Seongwoo had just called to get Daniel’s interview pushed back so that he could make it with time to spare. They spend the rest of the ride in relative silence, Seongwoo chattering about this and that while Daniel tries and fails to wrap his head around the situation.

 

Making a left at the next intersection, Seongwoo pulls into a parking lot and then parks at a reserved spot with the ease of someone who’s used to this as part of his routine.

 

He helps a still dazed Daniel out of the car and hands him back his bag, guiding him towards the elevators with one hand while the other locks the car with a finger. Pressing the button for the elevator, he shifts backwards to look at Daniel, hands tucked into his pockets. “You’ll want the fifth floor,” he tells Daniel, eyes on the elevator’s display as it counts down to their location, “Take some time to calm down, I think you’re still a bit shaken from the accident, but do your best, alright?”

 

Daniel stares and Seongwoo just offers that same serene smile, eyes shining mischievously. “Who are you?” Daniel repeats.

 

Seongwoo offers his palm for a handshake that Daniel accepts without thinking just as the elevator _dings_ softly in the background, “Ong Seongwoo, Creative Director of Nu EST Inc. Good luck, Kang Daniel, I look forward to working with you.”

 

Then the doors are closing and blocking Daniel’s view of Seongwoo’s smiling visage. Daniel doesn’t know how he spends the next hour or so. He knows he waited for and then sat through the interview, that he had answered the questions at least reasonably well as Mr. Kim had smiled at him rather favourably at the end, telling him to expect a call with their decision within the next week or so.

 

He walks slowly towards the bus stop in his borrowed coat that he is seriously considering not returning (it's not like Seongwoo asked for it back, right? Or maybe he should return it so he can see Seongwoo again and get some answers), dialing Jisung’s number from muscle memory before jamming the phone against his ear.

 

“Hey! How’d the interview go?”

 

“ _Hyung_ ,” he croaks out, “Today has been the weirdest day ever.”

 

“What? What happened?”

 

“I almost got hit by a motorcycle saving this girl. And then this stranger was asking me if I was okay and oh my God, _hyung_ , he was so hot. But then I was going to miss the interview and my clothes were ruined and he drives me to get new clothes at this place that _didn’t have price tags_ and paid for everything.”

 

“Holy shit, you’re okay right?” Jisung breathes over the line, “How old is he? Did you get yourself a sugar daddy?!”

 

“What?!” Daniel squawks, earning strange looks from passersby, “NO! He’s like my age, probably just a bit older. But that’s not all of it, _hyung_. You wouldn’t believe it. He calls up _the_ Kim Jonghyun of Nu EST and asks him to move my interview back which he does, just like that, and then it turns out he’s the freaking Creative Director at Nu EST.”

 

“Oh. My God. Kang Daniel, you lucky bastard. And you said he’s hot, too?”

 

“Ya, _hyung_ , is that all you care about?”

 

“Oh, I don’t know,” Jisung snarks, “Do you want me to get started on how you went off with a complete stranger, got into their car, and let them drive you off to who knows where? Because what? He was _hot_?”

 

Daniel just groans, leaning heavily against the bus shelter, “Do you have to put it like that? And it just, I don’t know, it felt right? Like I’d known him forever, I found myself telling him all these things, just like spilled my life story during the drive. Couldn’t even lie to him if I wanted to.”

 

Jisung is silent for a moment, “Say that again?”

 

“What? I told him all these embarrassing stories of my youth?”

 

“No, no, the one after that.”

 

“I couldn’t lie to him if I wanted to?”

 

“Did you try?”

 

“What?” Daniel asked confused.

 

“Did you try lying to him?” Jisung questions, sounding serious in a way Daniel really couldn’t piece together.

 

He tugs the collar of his borrowed jacket closer, pretending like he isn’t subtly trying to catch a whiff of Seongwoo’s lingering cologne like some creep and he thinks back to the day. He hadn’t tried to lie to Seongwoo on purpose, but in the beginning when he tried to brush off his concern…

 

“Not really?” he admits, “I mean, when he asked me if I was okay, I was just going to say I was fine, but I couldn’t get the words out. Why do you ask?”

 

Jisung scoffs over the phone and Daniel can already picture the unimpressed look he’s shooting him right now, “Kang Daniel. Are you sure that accident didn’t knock more than a few things loose? A person you never met before, whom you feel inexplicably comfortable with and drawn to, _whom you couldn’t lie to_ , even casually. What fits that criterion? What have we learned **since grade school about lies?!** ”

 

Daniel freezes, getting jostled by a disgruntled couple behind him as he’s pushed onto the bus.

 

“Are you saying…”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Oh my god, _oh my god,_ ” Daniel breathes, other passengers glance over at his outburst, “You mean Seongwoo is my **soulmate?!** ”

 

People are definitely staring now, whispering with curious eyes. A couple of schoolgirls in particular look interested in his conversation, obviously leaning closer to listen and gossip amongst themselves.

 

“Yes, “ Jisung deadpans, “Congratulations, Kang Daniel. You met your soulmate, spent your afternoon with him, and never realized it because you’re an oblivious mess and a lost cause. Good luck to this Seongwoo guy, he’s got his work cut out for him. You owe me barbeque now, by the way.”

 

Jisung hangs up to the sound of Daniel laughing hysterically but Daniel doesn’t care; he just grips the collar of the pea coat tighter and buries his face into it, shoulders shaking with mirth.

 

 _His soulmate_. Suddenly, Daniel hopes he lands that job for a whole other reason.

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who should be studying but then had a long work day and stress wrote again? Really I just needed something fun in my life again, hope you guys liked it?
> 
> Soulmate AUs was an idea I've been playing around with for a while; I was hoping to finish up with D&N before starting anything else new but I never seem to follow plans even when they're my own. This is the start of a series with various pairings and differing 'rules' of how soulmates meet or realize they're meant to be. I have a couple of other ideas on the back burner, but prompts for specific AU ideas or pairings are welcomed, though I can't promise anything.
> 
> EDIT: Now properly proof-read because that weird glitch on AO3 wiped any changes I made even before I posted....


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